


Daylight in Bad Dreams

by BlueCreations (GloryBox)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, will update tags as I go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 15:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7762954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloryBox/pseuds/BlueCreations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Zuko gets (begrudgingly) taken in by the Southern Water tribe after his banishment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daylight in Bad Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Zuko was banished a little earlier than canon, at age 12. I just really wanted to write him as a kid, I thought he was so endearing in those Zuko Alone flashbacks, where he's supposedly 11. 
> 
> The title comes from the lyrics of Acid Rain by Lorn.  
> DAYLIGHT  
> IN BAD DREAMS  
> IN A COOL WORLD  
> FULL OF CRUEL THINGS  
> HANG TIGHT  
> ALL YOU  
> NOTHING LIKE A BIG BAD BRIDGE  
> TO GO BURNING THROUGH.

“Dad, what is that?”  Sokka asked.  Hakoda looked to where Sokka’s mitten pointed and his heart flipped.  There was smoke in the distance-

_And black snow fell from the sky-_

Hakoda shook himself from the memory before it could consume him, glancing at Sokka, who was watching him with wide eyes.  

“Let’s go check it out.”  He said, voice far too flat to be confidently reassuring like he hoped, his throat beginning to close up.  He slowly maneuvered the canoe out to open water, watching for any sign that screamed _Danger!_

They were both silent, practically holding their breaths as Hakoda slowly pushed the canoe further into the sea, watching the smoke billowing into the sky.  Sokka perched himself at the end of the canoe, eyes squinted towards the horizon trying to make out the vague dark shapes.  

“It’s-it’s a ship I think.”  Sokka stuttered, voice half filled with fear, half with naive excitement.  Hakoda was beginning to make out some shapes too, his sharp blue eyes narrowed towards the sharp points of what appeared to be a Fire Nation vessel.  He should be panicking, turning around to warn the village, but something was off…

“It’s sinking!  It’s on fire!”  Sokka exclaimed, turning to look back at Hakoda with wide, excited eyes.  Hakoda frowned and continued paddling the canoe, not willing to get too close as it was probably still dangerous, but still worth checking out.  

When the ship was in plain view, Hakoda was able to put the pieces together.  What was once a Fire Nation ship seemed to be split in two, the middle lost in water, the two pointed halfway to capsizing.  Where the ship met the water was on fire, random pieces of charred debris floated around, black smoke billowing from the center of the sinking ship.  

“Dad look!”  Sokka exclaimed, Hakoda dazedly looked to where his son was pointing, forcing himself to look away from the burning ship.  Something was splashing in the water, moving towards a piece of debris.  

Without thinking Hakoda maneuvered the canoe towards the splashing form, recognizing it as a human.  A small human, too small to be a soldier.   As Hakoda paddled closer he watched as the child, a boy, haul himself up on the floating debris, only to find that it couldn’t support his weight.  Hakoda sped up until they were close to the boy, carefully angling the canoe as not the run the boy down.  Hakoda leaned over the side, and with strength beyond what he naturally possessed, grabbed the boy by the scruff and hauled him into the canoe.  

The boy let out a yelp when Hakoda grabbed him and the minute his bum hit the bottom of the canoe he jerked away from Hakoda’s grasp.  The first thing Hakoda saw was wide golden eyes, well eye, one was obscured by wet bandages that wrapped across the left side of his face.  The bandages were soaked, clinging to his skin, they'd need to get those off quickly, a wet wound would lead to infection.  A freezing wound would lead to frost bite.  The boy shrunk away from him and Sokka, who had at some point managed to push himself so he was at Hakoda’s side

The golden eyed boy was shivering, teeth chattering as he hugged himself, his inky black hair already beginning to freeze in an awkward pony tail.  Hakoda leaned forward, they were going to need to get him out of those frozen clothes, when the boy cupped his hands to his mouth and they glowed orange, steam puffing from them.  Hakoda froze and watched as the boy’s scrawny ribs contracted and steam emanated off his...no longer soaked clothes.  

_Fireben-_

“Firebender!”  Sokka accused raising a - wait, where’d he get that boomerang?  Sokka lunged forward and Hakoda grabbed him by the back of his parka, yanking him back next to him.  The fire nation boy had shrunk back to the opposite end of the canoe, perched at the end, looking as if he was contemplating jumping back in the water.  

Sokka went to stand back up again but Hakoda firmly pulled him back down.

“No.”  He said sternly to Sokka and then turned to the other boy, who was watching them like a hawk.  Even though his clothes weren’t soaked anymore, a crimson tunic with gold embellishments, obviously Fire Nation, they certainly weren’t suitable for this cold.  Hakoda reached behind him, noticing the Fire Nation boy tense in his peripherals, and pulled out a blanket he always kept in the canoe.  He gently tossed it to the Fire Nation boy’s end, who fumbled with it, looking at Hakoda in surprise.  

“Dad what are you doing-” Sokka hissed.  Hakoda gave him a stern look that meant _shush_.  Hakoda nodded towards the Fire Nation boy, who was still holding it, looking unsure.  

“Wrap up in that, we’ll look around for other survivors.”  Hakoda said.  Hakoda cautiously paddled around the now mostly submerged vessel, fire hissing as it was extinguished by the sea.  

They didn’t find any survivors, a few charred bodies floated to the surface, face down and lifeless.  Hakoda made Sokka look away, who buried his face in the fur parka covering his father’s arm.  The Fire Nation boy stared with wide frightened eyes before looking down at his feet, squeezing his eyes shut.  Without further word, Hakoda angled the canoe back to where they came.  The Fire Nation boy stayed perched at the end, wrapped in the blanket, obviously shivering underneath, though Hakoda suspected it wasn’t just from the cold.  The Fire Nation boy seemed afraid to warm himself up with firebending, given Sokka’s last reaction.  

Hakoda watched him out of the corner of his eye, cataloging bruises and cuts he hadn’t noticed before over the boys face, just how pale his skin was.  Sokka kept on trying to talk to Hakoda, hissing “ _Dad,_ ”  but Hakoda just ground out a “Not now.”  Finally Sokka fell silent, in that sullen way that meant he was slightly furious.  Hakoda felt a little guilty, but this situation was delicate, and silence seemed like the only thing that couldn’t intensify it further.  Anytime Hakoda or Sokka moved too fast that golden eye would snap towards them and Hakoda felt an unease in his gut.  

He didn’t like the idea of being wary of a child, but the element of fire was dangerous in of itself, wielded by a child or not.  Probably even more by a child, since they lacked the control of more experienced benders.   But then again, there was a difference between a malicious attack and an accident, not a big one but big enough for Hakoda to believe that the boy wasn’t an immediate threat.

The shivering child at the end of his canoe didn’t seem malicious, just scared, probably a little in shock.  Definitely injured, Hakoda had a bad feeling about the injury beneath the bandages on the left side of his face.  Eventually Hakoda got the canoe back to where he and Sokka had pushed it in earlier that morning.  Hakoda stood up and carefully stepped out of the canoe and on the ice, the turned to pull Sokka out with him.  Hakoda offered his hand to the Fire Nation boy, who was still wrapped in the blanket and stubbornly planted at his end of the canoe.     

“We’ll have to walk from here, the village is a short ways away.”  The boy didn’t move.  “We can tend your wound, and get you some warmer clothes and something to eat.”  

The boy narrowed his eyes.  

“Why?”  He asked suspiciously.  

“ _Why what?_ ”  Sokka barked, who had been chomping at the bit for the duration of their ride and couldn’t hold back his resentment any longer.   

“Why are you helping me?”  The boy barked back towards Sokka, “We’re enemies.”  He said coldly, shifting his hard gaze to Hakoda.  Hakoda looked down at him, frowning slightly.  

“You are a child.”  

 _“So?_ ”

“A child is not my enemy.”  

That seemed to light some kind of fuse in the Fire Nation boy, who stood up abruptly, the canoe rocking slightly, falling into a threatening stance, hands up.  Sokka did the same, though from behind Hakoda.    

“I am _not_ a child _-_ ”

Hakoda swatted the boys hands, paranoid about the fire that was sure to come from them then crouched down so he was eye level with the golden eyed boy.  He was fairly certain that this child didn’t have it in him to burn him, but one could never be certain with the Fire Nation.   

“Yes you are.  You’re barely older than my boy.  You have no family out here, no home.  You’re injured with no place to go.  I am offering you warmth and a safe place to stay until we figure out what to do next.  So you can stay out here if you want, but we are going home.”  

Hakoda wouldn't actually leave this boy to freeze to death in a canoe, he’d carrie this stubborn, distrustful child back over his shoulder if it came to it.  But whatever little energy had fueled the boy’s outburst had dissipated, the boy’s shoulders dropping and he finally backed down with nothing but a solemn, defeated nod.  

The trek back was tense and silent, the Fire Nation boy dragging his feet to Hakoda’s left, Sokka suspiciously peering at the Fire Nation boy every five seconds to his right.  When they came upon what was once the proud Southern Water Tribe, Hakoda paused to let the boys get a good look.  

“This is it?”  The Fire Nation boy asked after a moment.  Sokka looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.  

“ _Yes this is it!_  Is there not enough _fire_ and _coal_ and _darkness_ and _evil_ to live up to your standards?”

The Fire Nation boy looked like he wanted to fight with Sokka, but seemed to think better of it, merely shrugging.  Sokka narrowed his eyes and they continued their walk into the village in sullen silence.  

The walk in was interesting, villagers beginning to greet Hakoda and Sokka only to stop abruptly and stare at the Fire Nation boy, still wrapped in the Water Tribe blanket. Mother’s ushered their children behind them, the men looked surprised or threatened.  The Fire Nation boy eyed every villager nervously, eye darting around to each face and took one hesitant step closer towards Hakoda.  

Hakoda lead him to Kanna’s tent, ushering the boys inside.  In the tent, Katara and Kanna were preparing fish for dinner.  Kanna looked up and froze, a single blink to show her surprise.  Katara had her back to them, who was wholly focused on her task and didn’t turn around right away.

‘Hey Dad how did-”  Katara’s light voice abruptly cut off when she turned to look at them, eyes widening in both fear and surprise.

“Kanna this boy needs a healer.”  Hakoda said.  

“Are there others?”  Kanna asked flatly, eyes shifting from Sokka to Hakoda and landing on the Fire Nation boy.  Hakoda shook his head.  

“No, he’s the only one, I’ll explain later, but right now,” Hakoda pointed to the boys bandaged face, “He needs someone to look at that.”  

Kanna nodded solemnly, wiping her hands on a rag and Hakoda quietly asked Sokka to step outside, who sighed loudly but obeyed.  Hakoda stepped forward to gently lead Katara out of the tent, taking her by the hand and walking her out.  As she passed the Fire Nation boy she stared at him with wide eyes while he nervously watched her leave.

To Hakoda’s dismay, the whole village was looking at their tent when Hakoda stepped outside with Katara’s little hand in his.  Ignoring the imploring stares he knelt down in front of Sokka and Katara.  

“You two wait out here, okay?  I’ll explain everything in a few minutes, but right now I need to see if your grandmother needs help.”  He stood up, joints creaking unpleasantly and walked back inside.  

The Fire Nation boy was exactly where he left him, standing still as a statue as he watched Kanna bustle around the tent, pulling out supplies.  He seemed to have regressed back to their initial meeting in the canoe, shying away when Hakoda stepped too close.  

“Here,”  Hakoda gestured to the mat that Kanna had laid out while he was outside.  The Fire Nation boy’s eye darted to the mat but didn’t move.  “Sit.”  Hakoda said and the boy finally, but very cautiously, stepped over and sat down.  Kanna came over and wearily knelt down in front of the boy, eyeing the bandage suspiciously.   

She reached out to unwrap the bandages but the boy flinched away from her touch, as if she was going burn _him_.  Hakoda realized with a start just how stressed the child looked, his face pinched in anxiety.

“Hey,”  Hakoda said in what he hoped was a calm voice.  The boy’s eye darted to him.  “You’re safe.”  Hakoda said, nodding, and the kid nodded shakily back, visibly trying to relax his expression, but still looked nervous.  

  “We need to change the bandages.”  Kanna said flatly, and if Hakoda didn’t know better, he’d think she was losing patience.  The kid nodded, searching her face with an anxious eye and Kanna’s usually hard expression softened slightly.  

“I’ll be as quick as I can.”  She said and Hakoda nelt by the boy, who glanced at him nervously even though Hakoda nodded encouragingly.   Kanna began to unwind the bandages around his head, humming softly as she worked.  When she got to the bottom layers, the boy squeezed his eyes shut as she slowly revealed the wound beneath.  Hakoda's eyes widened at the sight of the wound, the bad feeling from earlier confirmed.  The left half of the boy's face was burned off, the flesh raw and exposed, his eye marred shut and his ear shrunk and shriveled.  He'd be permanently disfigured with no way to hide it, a horrid, painful mark put on direct display on his face for the rest of his life.  

“What happened?”  Hakoda asked softly, but the boy was breathing uneasily, eyes still pinched shut and he just shook his head to Hakoda's question.  Kanna continued to hum soothingly as she gently spread salve over the wound then carefully winding fresh bandages around his head again.  The boy seemed to calm down once the attention was off the burn, and by the time Kanna addressed the other minor cuts, he was calm, or at least too worn out to be anxious anymore. 

The boy blinked sleepily, and Hakoda pushed himself up so he was standing again.  The kid looked exhausted, and Hakoda felt something stir in the pit of his chest, something like pity.  Perhaps concern.  The kid had had a _rough_ day, and given the burn on his face, he had already had his share of rough days.  Hakoda dug around the tent and pulled up an extra sleeping bag and laid it out in an unoccupied spot on the side.  

“Here, get some rest.”  Hakoda said, pointing to the sleeping bag.  The boy’s suspicious nature had dissipated with exhaustion and just nodded, dragging himself over and crawling wordlessly into the sleeping bag.  He laid on his side (the unburned side) and the minute his head touched the ground he was out land Hakoda exited out the tent.  As soon as he stepped out he ran into Katara and Sokka, who had no doubt been listening the whole time.

“What are you two doin-”

“You’re letting him _sleep_ in our _tent!_ ”  Sokka exclaimed rather dramatically, eyes bugging out of his head while Katara stood unsurely next to him.  Hakoda tried not to seem amused.  

“Where would you propose we let him sleep then?”  

“Outside!”  

“Sokka,”  Hakoda started sternly.  “He’s hardly older than you.  What kind of man makes a child sleep outside in the freezing cold?”

Sokka’s face remained pinched up but he didn’t argue further.  Hakoda continued.  

“He’ll sleep in our tent for tonight, then we’ll figure something out, a way to get him back to his people.”  

“The Fire Nation?”  Katara’s small voice cut through to him.  She had been quiet the whole time, watching him and her brother argue.  “The people who killed mom?”  

All words froze on his tongue; he had nothing to say to that.    

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for the Avatar fandom so i hope i got everybody right, it's hard to tell because they are all young kids right now. This fic was mostly inspired by a few other Zuko-chilling-in-the-Water-Tribe AU's that I've seen (all are lovely) and me listening to the Revenent soundtrack one day for no particular reason. Got me thinking about cold places.  
> If you think the Hakoda-pulling- a-12-year-old-boy-out-of-the-water-with-one-arm is over the top I based that off a scenario were a random man in a kayak pulled my 75 pound dog out of the water by his scruff with one arm while me and my entire family stood on the shoreline in shock. (my dog had been chasing ducks and wouldn't come back to shore) I'm sure a 12 y/o kid weighs more than my dog but not by much. 
> 
> idk how consistent updates will be, school isn't too bad yet but it's only a matter of time until the workload intensifies.  
> Time will tell. Anyways, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear feedback!


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